About Me

I truly believe I am the luckiest girl in the world. At 23 years old, I've had more life-changing experiences than most do in an entire lifetime. From sailing around the world to dancing down Main Street USA, I have to wonder how this is all real.

What's Next?

For the first time in a while, I'm not really sure where my life is headed. I'll be heading to Florida after graduation to continue working for Disney, but in terms of major plans, all I know is that I want to make a difference. I'm not sure where, and I'm not sure how, but unknowing adventure is an idea I've definitely become more comfortable with over the years.

Saturday, July 31, 2010

Time is truly flying here...I can't believe it's almost August and i've almost been here 2 months! There's so much i've done, but so much more I want to do! I've been to Universal 5 times, ridden Dinosaur at Animal Kingdom 11 times in a row, been on all 3 mountains at Magic Kingdom, Braved tower of terror twice, performed in things people can only dream of doing. Yet i haven't been to Jellyrolls, any citywalk clubs, Seaworld, the beach..or even the Chatham pool, Mickey's Retreat, or any of the resorts.

I passed the 30 days out of training mark, which means i can be scheduled in dining. And boy have I. I'm in dining 4 out 5 days this week, and 4 out of 5 next week. But hey, that keeps me away from the Judge's Tent, so I'm all for it. Previous to this week, I've had about 60 percent of my shifts there. Which, concidering the fact that I ahve a global role and can be put in any park, having 60 percent in one location at one park is a HUGE amount. And I very much dislike it there, so I'm glad to be away for a while. Contemporary dinner shifts require me to be there for lunch coverage, but it's only 1 40-minute set...so I can suck it up for one set. I've done dining once when i was a spare, and loved it...so I'm looking forward to it. The only thing I'm not looking forward to is that most of them are very early shifts. I have 2 shifts starting a 6 this week, another starting at 645 and another at 8. And next week I have two 630's and 2 730's. However, add another hour to that AT LEAST for time to take the bus. I have a car down here, but I try to take the bus as much as possible because (a) i'm paying for it anyway, and (b) to save money on gas. I do use my car to go anywhere besides the park, its worth the gas to skip the Publix and Walmart buses though.

Roomate-ville is still doing really well. There have been some frustrations and such among everyone with certain people not pulling their weight, but personality wise we all get along and don't fight, which is awesome. I hate having to pull my weight plus other's weight, but i'd rather do that than have 5 spotless roomates and hate all of them.

My class, Creativity and Innovation is going really well too. My midterm is coming up next class, and I can't believe we are already this far into it. Registration for the fall session is next week, and I'm hoping to get into Marketing You, and maybe the exploration series about Disney Heritage aka History of Disney :)..i'm starting to have history withdrawals...i'm such a nerd. There's also some awesome workshops coming up this month that I want to go to sobad! But so far i'm working during all of them!! :(. I haven't been to ANY yet, and I want to take advantage of these opportunities!

I got to go home to Boston for a few days last week. It was a quick visit, I landed at 10am on Tuesday and left at 4pm on Thursday, but it was nice to see my friends and my kitties...and my jteam!

Semester At Sea:While I was home I finished and mailed all of my scholarship essays, which is awesome. But there's still so much more to do. I want to start planning what to do in each country. I have a few ideas, but not much. I know what I want to do in Maritius though! That's the one country I'm most excited about because it's such an unheardof land. We are only there for a day, so its a rush...but here's what I want to do:-Firstly, I want to go to the Bazaar. The Bazaar is a huge and popular market for both tourists and locals. I want to visit a lot of markets on this trip beause its such an awesome way to see cultures.-Then, I want to go to Chinatown. I've made a goal to visit as many Chinatown's as possible. It seems like every place in the world has a Chinatown, and i'd love to do an expirmenet to see how Chinese culture adapts to different societies and how each Chinatown of the world is similar or different.-Champ de Mars - This is a mountain and racetrack. It's not the tallest mountain, but it's tall enough to offer the natural views, plus the racetrack and picnic areas are hugely popular, where the Signoux, the major mountain, is more of tourist destination.This will probobly take my entire day, but if it doesn't there are also some historical landmarks or museums I would love to visit!

I also want to visit Disneyland in Hong Kong. Living at Disneyworld has changed how awesome the parks are.

Anyone interested in any of these things with me?

Plus, there have been some great ideas floating around the group, most planned by Tram, which sound awesome...so i'd love to join some of those!

I called my doctor, who doesn't offer the shots necessary, so I have to find a clinic down here in Orlando. I've also started making a list of things I need to buy. So slow and steady I am making progress on this.

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

the first month here is so hectic i haven't had time to do much of anything, let alone blog..but i have some time now..so here it is!!

it's really overwhelming getting used to the entertainment world. the thing about it is that everything just runs so much differently in entertainment than in the rest of the company...and performers are global, unlike any other role. that means that we work EVERYWHERE..all 4 parks, both waterparks and in dining at the parks and resorts. It crazy to get used to it all, and i'm still having to go in everyday and ask the base for directions because i still don't know what i'm doing most of teh time. It's still my "first time doing this shift" all the time. Almost everyone is super nice and helpful though, which is really good...though i won't lie, there are some not-so-nice ones. it's also hard because every location and park just have their own ways of doing things, and ways of wanting things done...so its an adjustment, and its VERY overwhleming, but i've worked in all 4 parks and in dining (no water parks yet though) and am starting to feel more adjusted which is nice.

i wish i could talk more about my role, but i really can't. i get to do a lot of hanging out with mickey, minnie, and donald, and the occasional playdate with pinocchio, annie, and today piglet. epcot is my favorite park to work at, but i really like the studios too, although most of my shifts are at magic kingdom. prefrencing just happened where we got our color codes and got to input what things we might be interested in training for.

housing is good. we had inspection today, and passed. they didnt like that we had things on the walls though. they are so boring bare though!!!

i'm taking a disney college education course called "creativity and innovation" which isn't that bad. it's not amazing, but not bad either. i'd recommend it. i'm planning on taking marketing you during the fall session.

i went to the wizarding world, and it was AMAZINGGGGGG. and i can't wait to go again!!!

semester at sea update -i started writing some scholarship essays. the itinerary changed to include TRAVLING DOWN THE AMAZON!!! and i have yet to do research for any of the countries, which i really need to start doing. things are finally starting to have a normal flow around here though...so i'm going to start the prep process.

i'm also getting back into a routine which is nice. i hadn't gone to the gym in a long time bc i was just so everywhre and busy, but i went twice last week, and plan to again thursday and saturday. i dont need to be a body builder or marathon runner, but i like the feeling of being in shape and not being sore all the time from standing. i started prepping for the GRE exam, which i hope to take in november, and have been keeping up pretty closely with my two required journals (one for school credit and one for creativity and innovation). i'm a few days behind, but nothing huge.